The Press Box.

Notre Dame Expansion Goes On

SOUTH BEND, Ind. — After years of planning and months of preparation, Notre Dame's renovated football stadium is beginning to take shape.

Workers have begun installing precast concrete columns and beams that will support the new seating area. The upper concourse will add 21,915 seats and surround the current 59,075-seat stadium.

The beige pillars weigh between 18 and 35 tons and the largest are 70 feet tall. There will be three rows of columns extending outward from the current stadium, but they eventually will be hidden by a brick facade similar to the current outer wall.

"For us it's very exciting to see the stadium coming up out of the ground," said Mike Smith, director of facilities at Notre Dame.

It will take six or seven months to install the nearly 300 columns around the stadium, Smith said. A second large crane will be brought in so two crews can work simultaneously, and the shell should be completed by this fall, he said. The stadium is expected to be ready for the 1997 season.